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Charles-Marie de La Condamine
(27 Jan 1701 - 4 Feb 1774)
French geographer, naturalist and mathematician.
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Quotes by others about Charles-Marie de La Condamine (1)
Vous avez trouve par de long ennuis
Ce que Newton trouva sans sortir de chez lui.
Ce que Newton trouva sans sortir de chez lui.
In Letter to La Condamine, whose surveying expedition (after Newton’s death) had measured the arc at the equator. As Newton had calculated, the Earth was a flattened sphere, due to the effects of rotation and gravitational pull. Roughly translates as, “You have found by prolonged difficulty / What Newton found without leaving home.” In The Royal Society Newton Tercentenary Celebrations: 15-19 July 1946 (1946), 15. [Newton was born in 1642; the tercentenary celebration was delayed by WW II —Webmaster.]
See also:
- 27 Jan - short biography, births, deaths and events on date of La Condamine's birth.
In science it often happens that scientists say, 'You know that's a really good argument; my position is mistaken,' and then they would actually change their minds and you never hear that old view from them again. They really do it. It doesn't happen as often as it should, because scientists are human and change is sometimes painful. But it happens every day. I cannot recall the last time something like that happened in politics or religion.
(1987) -- 
